Friday, September 23, 2016

St Andrews:
The traditional driving-in ceremony for the new Captain of The Royal
and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews took place on the first tee of the Old
Course today.

Keith
Macintosh began his year in office with a drive at precisely 8am as a
cannon fired alongside the tee. A large crowd of onlookers gathered to
watch the ceremony along with a number of Past Captains of the Club.As Captain,
Mr Macintosh will represent The R&A and support its work in
developing golf around the world. He will attend R&A championships
in the professional and amateur games and assume an ambassadorial role
for the Club. After
hitting his tee shot, Mr Macintosh said, “I was a little more relaxed on
the driving range than I was there. I was a bit quicker there but I
won’t tell anyone where I was aiming.

“When
you look around at all the distinguished past Captains it makes you
feel pretty intimidated and humble really. I am very much looking
forward to serving as Captain and representing the Club.”

A
distinguished amateur golfer, Mr Macintosh won the Scottish Amateur
Championship at Prestwick in 1979 and the Belgian Open Amateur
Championship the following year. The former Scotland international was
also a member of the Great Britain and Ireland St Andrews Trophy team
that defeated the Continent of Europe 19 ½ - 10 ½ at Royal St George’s
in 1980.

Mr
Macintosh has served on the Amateur Status and Finance Committees of
The R&A. He has been a Member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club
since 1994 and, in 1999, won the Royal Medal, the Club’s principal
scratch medal prize at its Autumn Meeting. He is an Honorary Member of
Cardross Golf Club and was Chairman of Prestwick Golf Club in 2014/15.
He plays to a handicap of 3.

Born
in Cardross, in Argyll, Scotland in 1949, Mr Macintosh studied law at
Glasgow University before serving his legal apprenticeship in Glasgow
and becoming a solicitor at a practice in Dumbarton. In 1987, he was
appointed Company Secretary of Clydesdale Bank PLC. After nine years in
the role he returned to practising law as a Partner in practices in
Glasgow and then Dumbarton and Helensburgh. He retired in 2009.

Residing in Helensburgh, Mr Macintosh lives with his wife Diana and has two sons, Stewart and Scott.

In
the past, the Club Captaincy was bestowed on the winner of the annual
Challenge for the Silver Club but by the early 19th Century the
Captaincy had become an elected office.

Part
of the tradition is that a gold sovereign is paid by the new Captain to
buy his golf ball back from the caddie who retrieves and returns it.
Experienced caddie John Boyne returned the Captain’s ball for the first
time in his 15th season on the links. “I’m relieved because I can’t run
any more. I’m getting older and older and I was thinking this moment was
disappearing. Since 2002, I’ve been watching the ball going down my
right side, or left side, and never actually into my arms so I’m
delighted for a change.”